No Certificate for Elevator Where Man Died

ST. LOUIS (AP) - The elevator where a St. Louis musician fell to his death was registered with the state of Missouri but an operating certificate had not been issued.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reviewed the Missouri Department of Public Safety database following the death of Bob Reuter. Reuter, a musician and radio show host, died Saturday afternoon after falling down an elevator shaft while moving into a downtown loft.

Police say Reuter opened the door to the nearly 100-year-old elevator and stepped into the shaft, falling about 18 feet.

State regulations require each elevator to be registered with the Division of Fire Safety and to be inspected annually. The newspaper says the elevator was registered in February, but a state elevator registry shows no record of inspection or operating certificate.